812-Lanca»ter Farming, Friday, January 9, 1998
The McKeestead farmhouse Is home for Virginia McKee Smith. Her grandparents
raised 10 children here and Virginia and her husband raised four. Now son Steve and
his wile Amy live In part of the farmstead.
Twenty Years Baking Pies
For Farm Show Competitions
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
LEWISTOWN (Mifflin Co.)
“It was a challenge just to see how
good I could do,” Virginia McKee
Smith of Lewis town comments
about her 20 years of entering
home canned or baked goods at
the Farm Show. She’s had a lot of
experience. She and her husband
Nelson raised four children on
their Ferguson Valley Road dairy
farm, where she has canned and
baked to feed the family.
This energetic petite grand
mother of four lives in the same
huge red brick farmhouse in
which her grandparents raised 10
children. Her father, who’d never
been in the hospital lived in the
house until age 96. Virginia was
bom and raised here and now
shares her home with son Steve
and his wife Amy. Steve and Amy
milk 75 head while brother Barry
helps work the 100 tillable acres
of McKeestead Farm’s 200 acres.
The Smiths also rent neighboring
farmland. Virginia’s husband Nel
son is in Ohesson Manor follow
ing a stroke. She sees him nearly
every day and tries to bring him
home once a month.
“We were married SO years this
past summer, so I’ve done a lot of
cooking.” Virginia says as she
deftly shapes sweet rolls that she's
making that day in the comfort
able kitchen. The sweet roll recipe
she’s mixed together came from
neighbor Kathryn Fisher. It was
printed in their Ellen Chapel
Church cookbook. She bakes
something nearly every day.
“I won first (at the Farm Show)
for rolls several times. In fact, I
won first place with a Peanut But
ter Temptations recipe I clipped
from Lancaster Farming”
Virginia says that former exten
sion agent Clair DeLong encour
aged her to enter the Farm Show.
She was active in the Women’s
Extension group, and DeLong of
ten took entries to the Farm Show
for anyone who wanted to partici
pate.
Virginia stops what she’s doing
to run down the steps to the base
ment. Returning, she climbs the
steps back to the kitchen more
slowly, carefully carrying jars of
her hard work. She’s holding pints
of dill pickles and her version of
“chow-chow.” One jar still has
Farm Show entry and prize slips
taped to it
“I like to garden and can,” she
(Turn to Pag* BIS)
,r 9 ■< o\ erguson Valley Road near Lewistown
enjoys gardening but likes to bake and can better.
Shaping rolls looks sasy when you watch Virginia Smith.
Shs freezes her award-winning Peanut Butter Temptations,
shown In the front container.
SEE YOUR NEAREST
55
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DEALER FOR DEPENDABLE
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RD 1, Box 255 A
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RD 1, Rte. 934
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